The EPA has confirmed that fracking could be contaminating well water. Image: Flickr / Rajeiv Patel / CC-BY

In the last few days, the Environmental Protection Agency has released a report confirming that the practice of fracking could contaminate ground water. What will be done with this information is yet to be determined.

The fracking process

Fracking (also called frakking) is a process developed by gas and oil companies to extract hydrocarbons from the ground. Water combined with sand, chemicals and other heavy elements is pressure-pumped into the ground. The heavy water and pressure fracture cracks that already exist in the ground, releasing natural gas and oil, most of which can be extracted by drilling companies. Fracking is largely responsible for the new oil boom in areas like Wyoming, North Dakota and the Marcellus Shale on the East Coast of the U.S.

EPA confirms fracking damage

Since oil and gas companies started fracking to extract oil and gas, residents of nearby areas have started complaining of a chemical taste and smell in their well water. Oil and gas companies denied that fracking would leach chemicals into groundwater. The Environmental Protection Agency, however, has just completed a survey of areas where fracking is occurring.

The study confirms that groundwater in areas where fracking happens is contaminated with chemicals used, as well as natural gas that dissolves in water as the rock fractures. Closer-to-the-surface groundwater also shows contamination from disposal grounds of previous oil and gas operations. Many environmentalists and social advocates are pointing to the EPA study as further evidence that fracking is a process in desperate need of federal regulation. Currently, only two states require oil and gas companies to disclose the chemicals used in fracking.

EPA study questioned

Several senators, business leaders and gas officials have all spoken up to question the validity of the EPA study of the pollution potential of fracking.

Sen. James Inhofe said the study was “not based on sound science but rather on political science.”

“Its findings are premature, given that the Agency has not gone through the necessary peer-review process, and there are still serious outstanding questions regarding EPA’s data and methodology,” the Oklahoma Republican said in a statement.

The conclusions of this study are not going to be easily accepted by any group, for both political and scientific reasons. Fracking allows for an industry that creates a huge number of jobs. Additionally, the process of fracking is slightly different depending on the type of rock and geological formations it is attempting to fracture, which means the EPA may need to do several more studies before the findings are accepted and spur any regulatory action.

Do you have a fantastic idea related to this article, but just don't have the money you need to start your own company or side-business? Get the loans you need from https://personalmoneynetwork.com to help get your new company underway, from the small loan professionals at PersonalMoneyNetwork.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co., a northern California utility, has agreed to pay $70 million to the California town of San Bruno for a pipeline explosion that killed eight people in 2010. Company says it’s remorseful The San Francisco-based power company’s president, Chris Johns, released a statement Monday, saying PG&E is sorry and eager to […]

Following a standoff in a Washington state county courtroom Friday, a man reportedly escaped after shooting a sheriff’s deputy in the shoulder and stabbing a judge in the neck. The man is still at large. Treachery among the tree farms The incident occurred Friday afternoon in the western Washington town of Montesano, which bills itself […]

A team of Chinese and American scientists have found that Microraptor, a small four winged dinosaur that went extinct about 130 million years ago, was likely black and almost certainly had glossy, iridescent feathers. Until now, the coloring of extinct creatures was a matter of pure speculation. That may no longer be the case. The […]

Adjacent schools in Georgia were locked down for two hours Wednesday after a text message reportedly warned of a “gunman” on campus. Later, it was learned that the message was the result of a smartphone autocorrect function, attempting to “fix” the misspelled slang word “gunna.” A series of mixups A series of mixups led to […]